Sleepy Girl in the Morning....

Most mornings in our house start off the same way. Maddy wakes up and starts to chat to herself in her bed. I, barely awake, stumble to her room. She sees me and starts to get excited - she waves her arms and laughs and kicks her legs. I bring her back into bed with us. We spend about 30 minutes cuddling. This is mostly just a ploy by Michael and I to try to get some more sleep. We keep her happy with songs and when that fails, MIchael gives her his keys, wallet and watch. She's usually very happy in the mornings....so even though I'm not a morning person, it's my favourite part of the day. Here are some recent morning pics.

First Trip to the Zoo!

Mads took her first trip to the zoo yesterday! She went with the nanny and H ( little boy she plays with all day). It looks like she had a great time. It was a bit of a bitter/sweet experience for me. I was so excited that she was going on this big adventure to the zoo (they took the ttc!) and I knew she was going to love seeing all the animals. But at the same time, I was bummed that I wasn't getting to see her reaction to everything. Apparently she really liked the camels and gorillas. She came home with souvenirs.....an awesome animal cup with her name on it and a little stuffed panda. She takes after Michael in souvenir department (I can't take michael anywhere without him wanting to purchase something....he calls them "heirlooms". Not even joking).
Here are some pictures from their day at the zoo. http://gallery.me.com/jeanguy/100038

Peaches

We packed our bags and headed up north to the cottage for an awesome weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had a couple of friends up there with us which was great - lots of amazing food, drinks and a little bit of cranium action.
Best part of the weekend....discovering Maddy can eat a whole peach. We picked up groceries Friday afternoon on the way up to the cottage. When we arrived, we moved everything into the foyer. I let Maddy hang out here while we brought stuff to the kitchen. A few moments later I return to find her tearing into a whole peach. Took me a few minutes to find my video camera but I was able to catch some of the destruction. Enjoy.

Mads and her puppies

You can hear her say "woof" if you listen closely.

Birthday Party Pictures

It's late....but I wanted to post some pics from Maddy's party on the weekend. I'll put some description in so you get an idea of the afternoon we had. Then, I must go to bed.

We had the party at my parents house - their place is much larger than ours and can fit my family + Michael's family.
Here is Michael opening Mad's gifts. She seems to like the peek a boo book....

After every gift we applauded and then Maddy would applaud. She did this for EVERY gift. You're not an Easter unless you applaud after opening a present.

Eating her birthday cake. This cake was amazing. We had the bakery that did our wedding cake 5 years ago create her birthday cake. We went with the same flavour as well - Lemon and Raspberry. Did I mention how much I love this bakery? This cake was filled with amazing real raspberries. Highly recommend them if you're looking for a cake for a special occassion and I thought the price was very reasonable.

First taste....that cake was soooo tall...so many layers of yumminess

Cake with Mom and Dad

Family picture

My sisters and I. We did not plan to all wear green.

The cake. Super cute. I'll stop talking about it now.

Happy Birthday Madeline!!

Today (Monday) Madeline turns 1 year old. Sigh. I'm not going to get all emotional about this. Babies grow up, it's what they do! But what I will say is that this tiny baby has grown into my little lady and stolen the hearts of everyone around her. I expect her to keep doing just that for years to come.

It's hard to believe that this was a year ago tomorrow. I'm writing this post at 10:45 on the 23rd. At this time last year, Maddy was still in my belly. We were still at home and I was in labour. 7 hours later....here she was :) Wow. I'm more emotional looking back at these pictures now than I was when I was in the moment.

Happy Birthday Madeline!